Britain’s last remaining hope in the men’s singles at Wimbledon, Cameron Norrie, suffered a straight-sets defeat to fourth seed Alexander Zverev, while world No 2 Novak Djokovic survived an early scare on his way to victory over Alexei Popyrin.
Djokovic, a seven-time champion at Wimbledon, was slow out of the blocks when last on Centre Court, losing the opening set 6-4 courtesy of a second-serve ace from the unseeded Australian.
But normal service was soon resumed. Appearing rejuvenated after the roof was closed, Djokovic went up 4-1 in the second set, around the time when a large number of fans erupted as news trickled in that England had beaten Switzerland on penalties to make the Euro 2024 semi-finals.
The amused second seed simulated a penalty kick that Popyrin pretended to save, to the delight of fans.
Djokovic had little trouble in the second and third sets, but faced a bit more resistance in the fourth as Popyrin dug deep in search of his first win in the pair’s third clash, saving three break points to hold in the 11th game.
After ensuring a tiebreak, however, Djokovic switched on the after-burners to close out the win, finishing with a fiery serve that Popyrin could only send crashing back into the net.
“I think each match I’m getting better,” Djokovic said on-court after his win that kept alive hopes of a record-extending 25th Grand Slam triumph.
“My feeling of movement and confidence in my movement, reaching and sliding I definitely felt better today.
“Hopefully the trajectory keeps going in a positive way and I feel better with each match. Let’s see what happens in the next one.”
Asked about his penalty kick moment, Djokovic added: “It felt like for a set and a half the crowd wanted to know what the score was.
“Congrats to England. I tried to shoot a penalty, I’m a left footer, but Alexei defended it well.”
Norrie saw British hopes in the men’s singles at Wimbledon disappear for another year as he failed to take any of the five set points that came in a thrilling third set tie-break against Zverev.
Norrie had taken Zverev to five sets in the fourth round of the Australian Open this year and was threatening to do so again if he had sneaked the third set but he was instead defeated 6-4 6-4 7-6 (17-15). It means the British No 2 has lost all six of his career meetings against the German.
The Royal Box was packed with stars from the world of sport on Saturday, with the likes of Pep Guardiola, Roy Hodgson,
Sachin Tendulkar, Joe Root, Leah Williamson and a host of famous Olympic names all watching the action.
Zverev, who had a chat with Guardiola after coming off court, said: “When I saw Pep I got so nervous for a few games there.
“Thanks a lot for coming, it’s a great privilege. If you get tired of football, you can coach me any time.”
Norrie initially held his own against Zverev, before the fourth seed broke for a 4-3 lead on his way to closing out the first set. And it was similar story in the second, despite the German suffering a nasty slip in the fourth game trying to chase down a drop shot.
This time the break of serve came in the ninth game, with Zverev again serving things out before taking a medical time-out to have strapping applied under his knee.
Norrie battled doggedly to stay on terms in the third set, saving two break points and delighting the crowd with an underarm serve ace to hold for 6-5, taking Zverev completely by surprise.
He led 4-1 in the tie-break as he tried to force a fourth set but Zverev fought back to level and the back-and-forth ding-dong continued, with neither man losing a point on serve until, facing a sixth match point, Norrie sent a backhand long to seal his fate..
On his knee injury, Zverev said afterwards: “I do feel restricted in some movements. I will check it out obviously but I’m pleased I was still able to play.”
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